


Transversal

by HybridDragoness



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Chapter Titles May Also Change Because I'm Indecisive, Eventual Romance, Everything May Change - NOTHING IS CERTAIN, Fluff, M/M, Pre-Canon, Tags May Change, This is my first fanfiction in five years please go easy on my soul, title may change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-14
Updated: 2017-10-23
Packaged: 2019-01-17 06:29:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12359502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HybridDragoness/pseuds/HybridDragoness
Summary: Zero's been struggling to find work after graduating from university. To avoid returning home in dishonour he's willing to take up the offer of a rather questionable newspaper ad. What could go wrong?





	1. Dubiously Fortuitous

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is for all those Antipodean-Shipping fans who endured through rare-pair hell. Bless you all and may this fic bring you some happiness.

Zero clutched to the stiff manila envelope like it was his life-line. The heat of the summer sun was beating down from the noon sky as he stood at the foot of a snaking cobble driveway. He wiped the sweat off his brow with the back of his hand. Why was it customary to wear a suit during the job-hunting process? It seemed a much more fitting choice of attire for a business school graduate – not someone who had come out of university with a computing degree. Sinnoh really did have a lot of differences to Unova.

These were all hazed thoughts that slurred through Zero’s mind; ramblings of a brain all too near to suffering heat-stroke. He’d lost count of how many places he’d posted his resumé to over the last few months. No matter where he went, there just wasn’t a company or independent firm that was willing to acknowledge his credentials – never mind his skills. He had tried very hard to stave off the feeling of hopelessness that had begun intruding on his psyche after each subsequent rejection. Though, it seemed that returning to Unova was inevitable. The notion made him numb.

‘This is it,’ he thought. An envelope had never felt heavier. 

As much as Zero wanted to toss his papers into the letterbox along with his nerves, doing so might’ve been just as effective as not applying at all. People liked to see the faces of their potential interns, unfortunately. The option of dumping what was now essentially junk-mail wasn’t valid anyway, as there wasn’t even a letterbox at the bottom of the driveway. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. There was a slot on the rendered wall, just beneath the silver painted property number, that was presumably for mail, but it had been haphazardly boarded up. The bent nails spoke of an unbridled hatred for fliers and hardware brochures. 

With no photograph to reference him by, Zero could only begin to imagine what Dr Graceland was like. He couldn’t help but picture a grouchy, balding, elderly fellow hunched over the letterbox, cursing at his own inability to hammer a nail in straight. Zero questioned whether he was making the right decision. After all, it had been a rather obscure job offer he had plucked from the newspaper classifieds. The box that contained the words ‘lab tech assistant’ was barely bigger than a footnote and held no other details besides an address for application submissions. The more he thought about it, the more his nerves became apparent.

Damnit, was he this desperate? Apparently so. 

He finally started his way up the cobbled avenue, begrudging both the steepness of the incline and the heat that was building up under his dress-shirt. He could see the path ahead curled its way around the hillside, eventually nestling itself under the shade of the trees that surrounded the estate. As he drew closer, the leaves broke up the harsh sunlight and Zero was relieved when a breeze began to glide downhill. Once he was closer to the summit of the hill, the laboratory became more visible, no longer concealed by the clusters of black pines. The building was relatively small; a two-storey, rectangular structure with a high gabled roof. The walls consisted largely of rendered off-white concrete with dark varnished wood accenting the spaces around the windows. 

At last he arrived at the end of the driveway which stopped at the northern side of the laboratory. The front door was accessible from the wooden deck that ran the length of the wall. Beside the doorway stood two great floor-to-ceiling windows that drank in the sunshine. Altogether it was a pretty ordinary building, though it looked like it played the part of a home better than a laboratory. 

Zero scanned the immediate area for any signs of an occupant. Concerned by the distinct lack of a parked vehicle, he walked towards the deck. Interestingly, even at this proximity to the building, there was still no sign of a mailbox, which brought him to the conclusion that Dr Graceland probably received his mail through a slot in the door. Though, curiously enough, when he reached the aforementioned door, there wasn’t even a post flap. This didn’t appear to have deterred the mailman, however, as various letters were stuck in the gap of the doorframe.

Zero fanned the envelope about as he peered through the massive windows. The panes were tinted, obscuring the view of the building’s interior. He had an increasing feeling that nobody was home, and judging from the sheer number of letters that had gone uncollected, it must’ve been that way for quite some time. 

But why post an advertisement if you weren’t going to be home to receive applicants? The logic escaped him. 

A flock of starly chittered in the trees nearby. 

Zero smacked the envelope against his thighs in frustration. He didn’t come all this way just to turn around and leave. He mustered what was left of his confidence and knocked loudly. He wasn’t about to let this become his last memory of Sinnoh; this wasn’t going to be what he dwelt on when he sat idly in his old room back in the family home in Black City. No way in hell. He knocked again, harder. 

The chattering starly dispersed. 

“Now look, if you’re trying to flog me something, I’m not interested— Oh,” 

Zero wasn’t sure whether to be shocked, offended or relieved. Thank Arceus someone had answered the door, but that was all his mind could process in the humidity. The man that stood in the doorway appeared to be in his mid to late thirties; his auburn chinstrap beard matched the fieriness of his short, spiked hair. 

‘Remember, first impressions count… Stop staring and say something!’ Zero fought for some semblance of a cohesive greeting. It was to his utter dismay that his normally sophisticated vocabulary had narrowed down to a feeble: “Hey there.” 

The auburn-haired man gave Zero a suspicious look. The letters that had been lodged in the doorframe finished fluttering down around them. The man was wearing fluffy buneary slippers.

“Are you with the DCA?” the man asked carefully. 

“T-the what? No,” Zero swiftly returned eye-contact and pulled his application up in front of him. “I came here to talk about your ad in the newspaper. You’re Dr Graceland, am I right?”

There was a long pause and Zero briefly began to worry that he might’ve somehow gotten the wrong address. The man’s chestnut eyes suddenly lit up with recognition and a look of sheepishness swept over him. 

“Oh, right, the ad!” he exclaimed and clapped himself on the forehead. “Why don’t you come in? And please, call me Newton.” 

The cool rush of the air-conditioning was a welcome sensation as Zero crossed the threshold. He followed Newton through little corridor and out into the main laboratory space. Despite the building’s relatively small size, the high open ceiling and massive front windows made the room feel a lot bigger. With the amount of furniture and equipment that cluttered the area, he imagined the feeling of claustrophobia would’ve been exacerbated had there been any less natural light. 

“I’m sorry about the mess, I wasn’t expecting any visitors,” Newton apologised. He hastily began gathering up an assortment of documents that were scattered across the coffee table situated by the front windows. He gestured to the two-seater sofa with his free hand, “Please, take a seat.” 

Zero wasn’t sure whether to interpret that as an initiation of a formal interview, or as a gesture of general hospitality. Nevertheless, he took the offered seat, taking caution not to sit on the strange metal object that was on one of the cushions. Though, said metal object turned out not to be an object as it blinked awake. It gave him a long hard glare, as if it were offended that Zero had sat beside it. 

“It’s okay Shieldon, he’s not with them,” Newton reassured. The steel-headed creature let out a huff before curling up again. 

“Your pokémon, I take it?” Zero questioned as he placed his envelope on the table.

“He’s supposed to be. Cheeky thing likes to think he’s the boss of me on some days, don’t you?” 

Shieldon snorted. 

“Anyway, down to business!” Newton placed a glass of water down on the coffee table before sitting himself on the opposite sofa. Zero wondered when he had gone to fetch the drink, but decided not to think too much about it. “When can you start?”

Zero snapped his attention back up to Newton, unsure if he had heard correctly. 

“Umm… Isn’t there supposed to be an… interview process?” he asked. “I mean, shouldn’t you want to check my credentials? Ask some questions? Give me a run-down of what this job actually involves?” 

“Ah yes! Credentials!” Newton snatched the envelope that had been sitting somewhat forgotten in front of him. Zero had never seen someone read his resume with such enthusiasm before. Well, he hoped it was enthusiasm. Newton was reading rather quickly. “Degree in computer sciences, ey? A dabbler in engineering too... Interesting combination. By no means a bad combination, though.” 

“Building and programming gadgets has kind of been a hobby of mine,” Zero admitted. “I’m well versed in a majority of the mainstream programming languages, if that helps.” 

“Well, isn’t that fortuitous?” Newton remarked as he smiled up from the papers. 

Zero hoped his expectant expression adequately translated his lack of understanding. 

“You’ve got just the skillset I’ve been looking for, er,” Newton paused to scan the front of the resume, “Zeroth Verrese.”

“Just ‘Zero’ is fine.” It felt unusual hearing his full name again. It was so alien now. Though, strangely, he didn’t feel as uncomfortable hearing it from the professor. Or maybe it was because he was too busy reeling from the positive response to have felt any differently. 

“So, how does next Monday sound to you?”

“Next Monday?” 

“I know that’s a few days away, but it’ll give me some time to get everything in order; make your first day more streamlined, if you will.”

Newton had already gotten up from the sofa and was heading towards one of the metallic counters at the back of the room. He began store away the various papers he had previously stacked in a draw beneath the counter.

“Not to sound ungrateful or anything, but you haven’t even told me what the position requires. I mean, your ad literally had three words in it.” 

Newton lifted his head up from the drawer, his face riddled with bewilderment. 

“Only three words?” 

Zero nodded.

“That’s odd…” he stroked his beard thoughtfully. “I could’ve sworn I put the address… Oh well, it’s nothing incredibly difficult, I can promise you. You seem like an intelligent young lad, I’m sure you’d be able to do it in your sleep!”

Zero walked over to the counters, idly examining the charts and documents Newton hadn’t stashed away. Messy handwritten notes covered graphs and equations on almost every loose sheet of paper. 

“Well, I guess that all depends,” he mused. His eyes fixated on a gridded-up diagram of a double cone connecting two parallel lines. “What are you researching, exactly?”

“Well, you could say it’s, ah...” Drawer sliders punctuated Newton’s fumbled words. “It’s a fairly new field of study. Very, hmm, niche?”

Before Zero could make out the scrawl on the conical diagram Newton covered it up with his hand. He slid the diagram under an adjacent pile of charts, holding Zero’s gaze the whole time.

“Why don’t I give you the whole debriefing on Monday?” he suggested with a smile that was very hard to disagree with. Though the meaning of the drawing greatly bothered Zero, he quickly resigned to the fact he probably wouldn’t be getting any answers out of the quirky professor any time soon.

“Monday, it is,” he conceded. 

“Excellent!”

~∞ x ∞~

When Zero returned to his studio apartment that evening, he was in a more amicable mood than he had been over the past few months. With a flick of a switch the room lit up with the cold, clinical glow of the fluorescent ceiling light. He kicked off his shoes and tossed his suit jacket over the stool by the breakfast bar. Stepping around the thin dividing wall, he flopped down face-first onto the single bed. 

While the walk back from Newton’s laboratory had been made more pleasant by the lack of oppressive sunlight, it was nonetheless tiring. Veilstone City’s rugged geography made even the shortest of walks akin to a countryside hike. 

A light flickered on at his bedside. 

“Welcome home, Zero,” a tiny electronic voice greeted him. Zero turned his head to look at the miniature monitor that sat on his bedside table. There was no face to accompany the voice that came through the device. Instead, coloured waves oscillated onscreen, coinciding with the device’s vocal patterns. “Judging by your demeanour, I take that your job search went… agreeably?” 

“That’s one way to put it,” he replied half into the pillow. “I start next Monday.”

“That is good news. Shall I log a reminder for that date?” 

“If you would be so kind, Infi.”

The drivers inside the machine made quiet whirs as they processed the information. 

“I have set an alarm for Monday – July 24th, at – 0700 hours,” she recited. 

“Next time, try speaking with a few less pauses,” he instructed as he rolled onto his back. Zero had worked hard at programming her to achieve natural speech patterns. In most cases she spoke without missing a beat, which had taken countless hours of trial and error. He was currently testing his most recent tweak to her mainframe – an upgrade to her learning processors. With that, Zero hoped that Infi would progressively improve her communicative capabilities without the need for him to rewrite her programming. 

A few more electronic hums resonated from the drivers.

“Understood,” she chirped. “I have allocated additional RAM to the Language and Communication modules.”

“That’s my girl,” Zero smiled. 

“Well, yes. You are my creator, after all.”

Zero made a mental note to make improvements to her comprehension of idioms. 

The evening passed quietly as he eventually mustered the energy to carry out his usual routines. He spent an hour or so perusing the internet and consumed a bowl of two-minute noodles to satiate his hunger. He was sure to top off the night with a hot shower before getting ready for bed. He turned off the main light, using the glow from Infi’s monitor to guide his way back around the dividing wall. The bedding had always left much to be desired, but he was more than happy to deal with it if it meant saving money. 

“Goodnight, Zero,” Infi said softly. She didn’t await a reply before her monitor dimmed, as he had already begun to doze off. 

He wondered why it felt as though Monday couldn’t come soon enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you kindly for reading.  
> I'll do my best to update when possible. As I am currently completing my final year of university, my schedule is a little bit full with final assessment pieces needing to be submitted and so forth. I wrote this to distract myself while preparing for a particularly arduous assignment. I will hopefully be able to bring this story into full fruition over the next few months.  
> For now, again, thank you for your time. Leave a kudos if you enjoyed, and if you have time, say hello in the comments; I would love to read your thoughts and your feelings.  
> -Hybrid


	2. Monday Melodrama

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New week, new job, new beginnings; the great joy that Monday brings...

The weekend passed by rather uneventfully. The rare onset of a summer thunderstorm kept Zero away from his usual outdoor retreat – the Veilstone City tip. While light showers had never deterred him from his ritual of sifting through the landfill, he didn’t fancy becoming a walking lightning rod with the amount of metallic junk he had a habit of collecting. Instead, the better part of those two days was spent in his apartment, staring out the window at the grey city. Electrical tendrils arced across the sky periodically, low rumbles following in their wake. He kept Infi powered down during the heaviest hours of the storm, not wanting to risk a surge to her circuits should there have been a blackout.

He scribbled a rough note in his workbook to either invest in a surge protector or build one into Infi’s system.

Eventually, the storm blew over and with it came the beginning of the new week. The sky had become a patchwork of small clouds and the morning sun was already gaining intensity. Infi’s alarm buzz, coupled with the ruckus of the waking starly, ensured Zero an early start to the day. He dressed practically – trousers, plain shirt and walking shoes – packed a drink bottle and a snack for the walk, and was out the door by seven-thirty.

Having remembered the way to the laboratory, he arrived much earlier than he first anticipated. The walk up the driveway was much less of a struggle without the midday heat bearing down on him. Though he wasn’t as nervous as before, Zero couldn’t help but feel apprehensive, still having no idea what it was he would be doing for Dr Graceland.

As Zero climbed up the front porch, he saw that the door was free of uncollected mail. He soon noticed through the tinted glass that Shieldon was sitting by the window. The steel-type’s black eyes gazed hollowly at him, almost like he was unimpressed to see Zero again. Had sitting next to the pokémon last week upset him that much? It would forever be a mystery as Shieldon huffed at him and walked out of view. Zero didn’t get a chance to knock when the door swung open.

“You’re here bright and early!” Newton remarked. Today he was wearing a lab coat over a red collared shirt. Zero wasn’t sure if cargo-shorts were acceptable under standard laboratory dress-code, but he didn’t question it. After all, cargo-shorts couldn’t compare to the inappropriateness of the buneary slippers, which Newton had also donned.

“Not too early, I hope?” Zero replied as he tore his attention away from the aforementioned footwear. “You didn’t give me a specific time last week.”

“Huh… So, I didn’t,” he mused with a wistful expression. “Forgive me, I was quite out of my head when we met. But don’t fear, I’ve thoroughly prepared everything for your initiation, and the sooner we start, the better! Come in, come in!”

Newton talked so fast and moved equally so that Zero had barely caught the word ‘initiation’ in it all. As he stepped indoors in a way not too different from the first time, Zero felt a slight uprising of unpleasant memories of his university initiation. He silently hoped that what the professor had in mind was nothing like what he was imagining. Sure, Newton was a little quirky, but he definitely didn’t seem like the kind of person who hazed new colleagues by making them drink toilet water.

“You alright?” Newton asked. Apparently, the colour had drained from Zero’s face in his reverie.

“M’good,” he forced out. “You just, er, got me worried when you said ‘initiation’, that’s all.”

“Oh, no, it’s nothing like that! Unless you find copious amounts of research and data collection to be scary?”

Zero smiled. “Not at all.”

Newton led Zero through the main laboratory space and offered him a seat by one of the metallic counters. There was less paperwork on the countertop than last time. Zero was almost disheartened to discover that the perplexing diagrams weren’t among the articles. He laid his backpack down by the stool and sat down.

“So, how familiar are you with Sinnoh’s mythology?” Newton queried out of the blue.

“I… know about it,” Zero replied slowly. “It’s not something I’ve studied, though.”

“I see. Well, not to worry...” The auburn-haired professor brought a stack of the papers in front of them as he took the stool beside Zero. “It’s just a good place to start.”

The papers were spread out before them. There were notes on various versions of Sinnoh’s origin mythos and photographs of ruins and cave paintings. They depicted large, terrifying pokémon – presumably legendaries. Stylistic differences aside, the images often displayed three creatures, two of which were consistently portrayed through each iteration. The third pokémon, however, was different. In some drawings it was a bright, four-legged creature with a halo that encircled its torso; this creature was always drawn above, or between the other two pokémon. In other images, it was an inky, shapeless blotch with two red eyes, cowering beneath everything. Even where the details were lacking in the most primitive of pictures, something about those eyes seized Zero.

He continued to leaf through the papers as Newton spoke. Parts of the origin story Zero was familiar with were further fleshed out. The two consistently depicted pokémon were Palkia and Dialga, hailed by early Sinnohans as gods or masters of space and time, respectively.

“Now here’s the interesting part, the third pokémon isn’t always drawn the same…” Newton brought two photographs up side-by-side to illustrate his point. “While the surviving transcripts of the legends would have us believe that the different depictions are of the same entity, the ‘Original One’, we now know that’s not the case.”

He pointed to the haloed creature. “We now know this is Arceus, and if the stories are true, it’s the reason the universe exists. Arceus created Dialga and Palkia, and subsequently the cosmos.”

“Then, what’s this one meant to be?” Zero gestured to the dark, bodiless pokémon. 

“Giratina.”

Its red-eyes seemed to stare up from the pages, suddenly more intense.

“From the fragmented information that’s been gathered over recent years, we’ve found out that Giratina was supposedly banished for its violent nature,” Newton continued. He pulled out new pictures and diagrams. They looked like planetary charts – orbital patterns; spheres suspended in blank space, arranged systematically around one another. Some were linked by strange filaments, others were not. “Apparently, Arceus created an entirely new dimension in which Giratina was to be eternally sealed. This dimension, or, alternate reality as it were, is supposedly linked to our own – like two sides of the same coin; the reflection in a mirror; a reverse world!”

Its eyes stared on as Newton carried on with impassioned words.

“This is all very interesting, Dr Graceland—”

“Please, call me Newton.”

“Sorry, Newton. But, where exactly are you… going with this?” Zero tore his eyes away from the photos. “You didn’t strike me as an archaeologist.”

Newton laughed at this. It was a deep, hearty sound with no room for pretence or cruelty.

“You could say I’m a bit of a dabbler,” he chuckled. “Physics is my main field, however.”

“Right.” Zero casually turned the page of Giratina pictures face-down. “So, what is it you’re aiming for, exactly?”

“Why, to prove Giratina’s world exists, of course!” he said it so easily, like it was the most obvious thing to be doing – like it was the only thing to be doing. “Proving the existence of a pokémon as enigmatic as Giratina and its alternate dimension would be a massive breakthrough for science! It would reshape our perceptions of reality – after all, if Giratina’s world exists, then so too must Palkia and Dialga’s! Who knows, there may even be hundreds – thousands – of worlds beyond even those!”

Newton had stood up during his speech; the excitement was spilling over the edges of his being. Zero had to admit, while the notion of searching for alternate universes was in itself absurd, Newton’s enthusiasm was inspiring. There was something about his conviction – the unwavering, relentless pursuit of the unknown, that made Zero want to suspend his disbelief.

After all, there was a time when no one believed he could create an AI as sophisticated as Infi. Sophisticated for a student on a budget, anyway. The memories crossed his mind in a flash; the disapproving looks on his mother and father’s faces as he confessed his ambitions; their condescending voices...

‘You can’t inherit the family business with those skills!’

‘For what reason did we send you to that prestigious school?’

And it was gone, as quick as it had come; the unease drowned out by the professor’s elated words.

“So how do we go about this? Finding Giratina’s alternate dimension, I mean.” Zero asked. Newton’s energy seemed to die down at this. “Since you said it’s supposed to have been banished there, I don’t imagine there’d be an easy way in or out of that world – if there is one at all.”

“I’m afraid that’ll be the hardest part,” he lamented. “What specific clues there may have been were probably lost to history, unless of course, someone finds the missing pieces of these legends. I do, have one lead I’ve been following, however…”

The professor went over to one of the counters further back in the room. He fumbled around the stacks of books there, an elated ‘ah-hah!’ escaping him as he uncovered the item he had been seeking. Returning to where Zero was seated, Newton placed a frail, thin book down in front of him. The narrow spine showed a great deal of wear; the white of the pages had yellowed with age.

“This is one of the earliest translations of the old legends I could find. A number of them aren’t even mentioned in the later editions of Sinnohan history,” Newton commented, all the while gently turning the book’s delicate pages. “A lot of the fragmented ones came from here, also. Ah, here we are!”

“Tobari’s Myth?”

“Tobari was the name of the settlement that existed here, before Veilstone City was established,” the professor explained.

Zero scanned the words, backtracking now and again to make sense of the dated syntax. The tale spoke of a swordsman who had slain countless pokémon with his blade. His reckless slaughter saw famine fall upon the swordsman’s people. He travelled further and further away to find food, but he found no more pokémon to hunt. Eventually, he encountered one cowering in the shadows. It told him that for wielding the sword with intent to harm, the pokémon would bear their claws and fangs to exact a toll. The story concluded with the swordsman discarding his weapon, and the pokémon disappearing to a place beyond seeing.

“It sounds like a parable to me,” Zero remarked. “But I’m not seeing the relevance.”

“I thought you mightn’t,” Newton said with a smile. “You really have to go out on a limb to see it. Read the next passage.”

He did as he was instructed and looked to the next page. It was significantly shorter than the previous tale – a few lines to be exact.

_That where life sparkles…_

__

_That where life has faded…_

__

__

_A place where two worlds overlap…_

“You’ve still lost me,” Zero admitted.

“That too, I expected!” It almost sounded like Newton was revelling in his confusion.

Close reading was never his strong point – there was a reason he favoured mathematics and computing over literary subjects. Determined nonetheless, Zero reread the passage, taking note of the last line. He knew it had significance – he just didn’t know what precisely. His eyes trailed to the footnotes that listed the original source.

“Turnback Cave, where’s that?” he inquired.

“It’s a little way’s out of town,” Newton responded. The approving grin told Zero he was on the right trail. “It’s situated on the edge of Sendoff Spring. People used to believe that the spirits of the deceased would congregate there to travel into the afterlife; like the spring itself was some kind of portal.”

“T-this is quite the long limb you’re going out on here,” Zero confessed. He ran a hand through his white hair, brushing his sweeping fringe to the side. The words suddenly fell into place. “Wait, ‘where life sparkles,’ and ‘where life has faded,’ – you don’t think it _literally_ means our two worlds overlap at Sendoff Spring, do you?”  
The professor’s satisfied nod was enough of an answer. Zero let out a breath he didn’t know he had been holding. This really was absurd.

“Have you visited the spring?” It seemed like the best question to ask.

“Not since early last autumn, I’m afraid,” Newton appeared sad as he said it. “There was a bit of a landslide that made Spring Path inaccessible for the remainder of the season, and combined with the winter snowfall, well…”

“Was there anything of interest when you got there?”

“There were a few things that I found intriguing – magnetic and gravitational fluctuations. I’ve been meaning to go back – repeat some tests, collect samples ‘n such. I actually planned to go this week.”

“Sounds promising,” Zero hummed thoughtfully. “It’d be a good place to get started, at least.”

“My thoughts exactly!” Newton winked. He had the numerous papers gathered up in his hands, tapping them against the counter to align them. “You up for a hike tomorrow?”

“Sure. You said it’s just outside of town, right?”

“Thereabouts!” The professor passed the papers towards Zero; the old book sat on top of the pile. “Why don’t you take these home to have a more thorough read over? I’ll show you the rest of the lab in the meantime--”

Shieldon’s urgent yowling noises drew their attention. The small steel-type came running, yapping noisily at Newton while pointing a foot at the window. The black sedan that had pulled up in the driveway must have been of some importance, as Newton’s expression turned grave.

“On second thoughts, why don’t I do that another time.” He picked up Zero’s backpack and quickly helped to put the notes inside. “If you go through the door on the left, you’ll be able to find the back exit.”

“What’s going on?” Zero was mildly concerned why he was being ushered out so secretively. It wasn’t even noon.

“No time to explain!” The professor gently nudged Zero towards the intended direction, periodically looking over his shoulder as he did. Shieldon barked in agreement as he too started to push – pressing his body against the back of Zero’s heels. The sound of slamming car doors heightened the state of emergency Newton appeared to be in, and he began to apply more pressure.

The rear room was dark. If it weren’t for the light pouring through the way they had entered, and the sliver of sunshine creeping under the back door, Zero was sure he would’ve tripped over something.

“I think I’m owed some kind of explanation, Newton!”

The professor made a placating gesture with his hands as he gave Zero the final nudge out the back of the building. The very real panic on the auburn-haired man’s face only worsened his feelings of anxiety.

“I promise, I’ll explain it to you tomorrow – and I’ll sort out your pay, too,” Newton assured hurriedly. “I’m terribly sorry I had to do this. Shieldon, do me a favour will you and guide our colleague to the main road.”

Shieldon huffed and stepped outside, and with that the door was shut. The steel-type stared in that hollow way he always did at him before sighing softly. It was a strange, resigned noise, like he was saying: ‘oh well, this is happening, I guess.’ He bounded a short distance towards the rear slope of the hill and turned to wait. Part of Zero wanted to stay behind and eavesdrop on what Newton was getting up to, but he had a hunch that Shieldon wouldn’t allow it. Jogging to catch up with the fossil pokémon, they began their trek down the hill – their route apparently straying away from the cobbled road.

“Does this happen often?” Zero decided to ask, not knowing whether Shieldon would care to answer or not. He just needed to get it out.

“ _Don!_ ” Shieldon bayed with a nod.

“Should I be worried?” he tried next. “I mean, this isn’t exactly… normal.”

The steel-type made an airy noise like laughter.

“ _Shieldon-don!_ ” the pokémon said as he tilted his head from side-to-side. Zero had no idea what that meant, but the nonchalant tone seemed to indicate that whatever was happening wasn’t a matter of great concern. Even with this reassurance, Zero still felt uncertain. In any case, he felt comfort in the fact that Shieldon was interacting with him and not just giving him empty looks.

Walking off the road saw them arrive at the foot of the hill within a matter of minutes. Shieldon stayed by the rendered wall as Zero crossed over onto the street footpath. He glanced back, noticing how the pokémon watched quietly for him to keep going.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, I suppose?”

Shieldon bobbed his head.

Zero began on his route back to his apartment block, but stopped as he came to a junction in the road. He contemplated an excursion to the landfill. There were still plenty of hours left in the day, given his unexpected dismissal, and considering the milder weather it wouldn’t be so unbearable. Not to mention, he still had unconsumed food and water in his backpack.

‘Why the hell not?’ he resigned internally, and took a turn at the junction. From memory, the tip was closer from this side of town anyway.

~∞ x ∞~

Veilstone City’s landfill could only be described as an obtrusive onslaught to the human senses. The unmistakeable smell of rotting waste – both mechanical and organic – harmonised with the visual assault that was the ever-tangling masses of trash. Though, despite its unappealing appearance, pokémon had managed to thrive in the noxious environment, finding boons amidst the sea of human refuse. Flocks of wingull hovered over the manmade fields of garbage, squabbling among one another as they fought for the most decent of food scraps. Pairs of murkrow would appear periodically, tag-teaming the feuding sea-birds, occasionally stealing their prizes. Even in the foulest parts of the dump, clods of grimer congregated together, gradually breaking down the various piles of rubbish one mouthful at a time. Whatever metallic object was left behind from their banquets were quickly snatched up by the clans of aron that prowled the heap.

Zero always believed that it was nothing short of a miracle that pokémon had managed to find refuge in even the most forsaken of places. Regardless of the inconsiderate nature of humans and their constant pollution of the land, life always managed to hang on in unexpected ways. He gave credit where it was due, however, as many of the landfills he had seen around Sinnoh were much smaller and better maintained than a majority of those he had frequented in his native Unova. While the sheer abundance of pokémon required him to be more resourceful in scavenging useful scraps, he occasionally found himself lamenting over the days when his hobby of glorified dumpster-diving wasn’t nearly as life threatening. 

“Alright, take it, it’s yours!” Zero exclaimed. He backed away from the ravenous skarmory, raising his hands up in surrender. The massive metallic bird clapped its razor-sharp beak at him, squawking indignantly as it gathered up the bundles of wiring at its feet. It flew off with its plunder, leaving a frustrated Zero in its dusty wake. “It’s not like I needed it anyway, jerk.”

He took a sip from his water bottle as he wiped his brow with his free hand. He had sifted through the scrap heap for just over an hour and had little to show for his efforts. It was frustrating, but he was used to it. He knew his anger would easily be quelled by the discovery of a new shiny object. He decided to move along, not wanting to risk another encounter with large predatory pokémon. Minor detours were made to allow the wild creatures to pass by, occasionally requiring Zero to clamber over the mounds of rubble.  
He smelt the muk before he saw it and hastily darted off the narrow track to avoid crossing its path. As he ascended a knoll of discarded computer casings and electronics, Zero felt the ground shift beneath him as a slab of degraded plastic gave way. He barely held in a yelp as he fell down the other side of the rise, feeling every sharp poke and jab of the objects that he tumbled over. 

The skuntank he had landed on was none too pleased with having its nap interrupted, and hissed with rising fury.

Before Zero could even stand, the skuntank threw him off. It turned to face him, the hairs on its bristly tail standing on end in an attempt to intimidate.

“Oh crap!” He instinctively closed his fingers over his nose. Even as he attempted to get up, he knew he was unlikely to get far before the skunk pokémon gassed him.  
A series of electrical bolts struck the ground between them. The skuntank immediately stepped back, snarling low in its throat. Zero followed its gaze to see a solitary magnemite hovering above them. The magnemite made a droning noise, sparking electricity wildly between its magnets in a threat display. When the skuntank returned with a challenging growl, the magnemite didn’t hesitate. A shrill screech was the only warning skuntank got before being hit with a nasty Spark attack. For all its bravado, the skuntank retreated with an undignified whine.

Zero let out a relieved sigh. He wouldn’t have to wash his clothes multiple times just to get the skuntank’s stench to fade. The magnemite floated down to him, spinning its magnets gleefully. 

“What took you so long, Magnemite?” Zero asked with a hint of jest. Magnemite’s singular eye closed in a smiling way as it made a mechanical cackle while Zero dusted himself off. 

“Well, it might not bother you if you got gassed, but you don’t have a nose!”

The magnet pokémon buzzed some more and bumped against Zero’s arm gently. 

“Okay, I owe you a ‘thanks’, at least,” he sighed and patted it on its top screw. “I don’t have any treats for you though. A skarmory ran off with my only good find.”

Magnemite whirred in an intrigued tone, spinning its magnets in alternating directions.

“If you were here sooner, maybe I could’ve shared some of it with you,” Zero smirked. “So, it’s both our loss, really.”

His remark was met with the flattest glare known to man. 

“Alright, I’ll stop guilting you,” he conceded. “You can have dibs on the next find, then.”

At this, Magnemite perked up again. It excitedly zoomed about, humming with joy and Zero couldn’t help but laugh. Among the numerous denizens of the tip, this particular magnemite had followed Zero around since the first day he had visited. He had offered a scrap of silver to it without a second thought, and that was apparently all it took to win over the electric-type’s heart. Not a trip had gone by when Magnemite hadn’t come to see him. It had crossed Zero’s mind to capture it, since it had grown so attached to him, but a part of him couldn’t justify tearing the pokémon away from its home. Especially since he discovered, shortly after they met, that it lived with a whole hive of its kin within the landfill. Nevertheless, the pokémon’s companionship made his time at the scrap heap much more enjoyable – and safer. Even though he wasn’t Magnemite’s trainer, the pokémon happily escorted him around for a treat every so often. It was a relationship Zero was satisfied with. 

“So, I finally got a job,” he commented as they walked. “Still don’t know how I feel about it, though.”

Magnemite droned questioningly. 

“My ‘boss’, I guess, is a bit…” he tried to think of an appropriate word. “Eccentric?”

Magnemite made a long, rising whirr and spun its magnets.

“Oh, thanks! It’s nice to finally know that’s what you really think of me.” 

They continued like this for the remainder of the day, bantering while they rummaged the scrap heap. Though his excursion had ultimately ended without finding much in the way of loot, leafing through the junk with Magnemite was a cathartic activity. The sky began to glow with the approaching dusk as Zero waved goodbye to the electric-type. It waited by the dump’s border, humming in farewell. After all that, he began his walk home feeling a little less troubled by the morning’s events. He could only hope that Newton would give him an adequate explanation the next day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you most graciously for reading.  
> I'll try to maintain consistent updates for this story where I can. Only have another assignment left to hand in and I'll be free as the skarmory that took Zero's copper wires.


End file.
